An Editorial in the April issue of Nature Biotechnology (26, 358; 2008) reports that corporate biotechnology has finally entered the ‘Web 2.0’ world, with the launch of a blog by Centocor, the biologics division of Johnson & Johnson. The Editorial points out that plenty of other pharma and biotech-related blogs exist, by people who see themselves as commentators on the industry and its activities. Some of the most insightful, topical and entertaining are from industry insider Derek Lowe, veteran journalist Ed Silverman and the editors of Windhover’s In Vivo. What distinguishes the Centocor blog is that it is the first biotech industry blog that has the company’s imprimatur. To what extent the blog is a blog or an extension of the company’s corporate PR is discussed in the Editorial, which goes on to outline ways in which blogging can be part of the informal yet often powerful public debates about important industry issues. Centocor’s blog gets the thumbs-down from Nature Biotechnology, which says of it “what’s the point?” But unlike some corporate blogs, it is open to comments (see this post, for example, which describes some goals of the blog and asks for reader feedback). It is a welcome toe in the water of public engagement.